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Publisher's Summary

Interesting Times, the seventeenth novel in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, finds the planet's oldest empire in the midst of bitter turmoil after the publication of the revolutionary treatise What I Did on My Holidays. Workers, with nothing to lose but their water buffaloes, are joining forces against old warlords, spreading violence throughout Discworld's ancient cities. All that stands in the way of total destruction are 3 decidedly non-heroic creatures: Rincewind, the world's dumbest wizard; Cohen the Barbarian, who stands 5 feet tall in his surgical sandals; and a very special butterfly.

"Interesting Times" is one of my favourite Pratchett books, and Nigel Planer does his usual terrific job converting it to audio. The story pokes fun at all things Oriental (or Auriental in the story -- where the gold comes from, you see), or more to the point, it makes fun of Western cliches about the Orient. The scene where Cohen and his horde of elderly barbarians take on the ninjas is perhaps one of the funniest things I've ever read/heard. "That was impressive," says one barbarian, "the way that lad jumped backwards across the room like that." "You shouldn't ought to have stuck your sword out in his way like that, though," another chimes in. "He's learned a valuable lesson!"

A typically good Discworld book - perhaps slightly more ragged than usual, but full of biting satire and wonderful characters - including the welcome return of some much loved characters from the earlier books.

In particular, an excellent and exciting final act.

As usual, Nigel Planer does an unparalled job of narration, with multiple voices and accents. I can honestly say he is the best narrator of any Audio Book I've ever heard - if only they were all as good as him!

To me, Interesting Times is when the Rincewind series starts to get good. Colour of Magic is meh, The Light Fantastic is enjoyable but could be better, Sourcery is a downer, and Eric is colorful, but a little too old-school Pratchett (note Hell's existence has been ignored in every subsequent Discworld novel). Interesting Times is the first Rincewind novel set in the "modern" Discworld, and maintains the light, humorous atmosphere throughout. Lord Hong is an unforgettable villain, Ghengis Cohen a treat to cheer for, and the Silver Horde a non-stop source of amusement. The visit to the ninja's gym is one of my favorite scenes in the series. Highly recommend.

Pratchett once again cuts to the heart of the matter and delivers an excellent social commentary on the issues of integrating a growing city and the role of the press in a free society. The fact that it's as funny as hell is pure cream.

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